Started Jillian Michael’s 30 Day Shred yesterday, and Couch-to-5k today…so far, loving both of them I’m only using 3lb weights for 30DS, which is pretty disappointing, but there isn’t a whole awful lot I can do about it right now. I’m doing C25k on my treadmill, 3.5 for the walking segments and 4.5 for the running (though I did about the first 10 minutes at 3.0 & 4.0, until I got a better feel for it). Managed to get in all but 2 miles (7.5 laps) within the 30 minutes! I’m pretty happy with that, haha. I definitely plan on hitting the full 2 miles on Thursday (aka Day 2). I have a feeling that I’m going to have all sorts of fun trying to get out of bed in the morning

It feels so good to be working out again. I took a break from the day I finished P90 (10/4) until yesterday when I started 30DS and felt pretty miserable the whole time. I still haven’t been fully able to reign my eating back in 100%, but I am trying. Living and sharing a refrigerator with two other people who couldn’t care less what they (or more importantly, I,) eat and when just doesn’t make that aspect of my life very easy.

But either way, onward and upward (or downward? :P)! I will make my goal weight by Christmas (since, obviously, my original goal of making it by Halloween has gone out the window), one way or another.

So, today was my last day of the Power 90 Program! Wow. I’m pretty happy with my overall results, but I’m severely disappointed with myself for the progress that I’ve made in the past 4 weeks…which was absolutely none. I just ended up letting myself go…I mean, I didn’t miss a single workout or anything like that…I just went all binge-y with junk food.
Funny thing is that I even know the exact date that it started, even remember it like it was yesterday. I went to the grocery store with my mother first thing in the morning. The bakery section has a clearance rack where they put the leftover stuff that didn’t sell the day before…and there are almost always donuts. I bought two dozen. Now, we used to go to the store more towards afternoon, but since my son started pre-school, we’ve been going as soon as he gets on the bus. Going later in the day means less junk on the clearance rack to tempt me. Anyhow, every one of the donuts was gone within the next 4-5 days. I told myself after they were gone that I wouldn’t buy anymore…well, I lied -_- The next batch, I ate each one with a bowl of ice cream.
Of course, though being what threw me off track, the donuts weren’t the only issue. With the donuts and basically anything else that I could get my hands on, I ate well over my 1500 calorie per day limit. Thankfully, I managed to maintain instead of gain, except for this past week where I went from my new record low of 128 back to the 130 that I’ve been stuck at for a month and a half…but unfortunately, I didn’t lose a single fraction of an inch from any part of my body :/
So, in the end, I lost 7.4lbs and about 5 inches over all.

Day 60 complete! Wow, I’m glad to be so close to the end! I’m happy with how well I’ve done…though not quite thrilled with it. I know I could have done much better. But I’ve certainly done well enough. I’ve lost 7lbs since Day 1, a total of about 5 inches over all so far, and have gone from a size 13 to a 7 (!!!). I’m really horrible with eating right–that’s pretty much all that’s kept me back from some excellent results. I’ve only got 4 more weeks to go, and I’m definitely planning to make them count!

I was all sorts of worried about how much harder 3-4 was going to be for me, but wow. Honestly, I think I like it better than 1-2.

The faster pace of Sweat seems to make the time go by faster, so it really doesn’t even seem like it’s nearly an extra 10 minutes and another set of everything. And amazingly enough, I managed to keep up the entire time and felt really great at the end. I’m kinda even looking forward to Monday when I get to do it again

As for Sculpt, not so much. I don’t have a proper chair to even attempt the decline push-ups, and still can’t do more than one on my toes…but 20 on my knees is not much of a challenge. The only weights I have are a 3lb set & a 10lb set, so some of the exercises are either too hard yet or too easy. Unfortunately, I can’t really afford buy anything in-between, so I just have to make the best of what I have. My current “max.” squats is 25 & push-ups is 20 (girly-style). The increased number of walking lunges & squats really made a difference in difficulty, even though the increase was really low (5 sets of lunges with 5 squats between instead of 3 and 12 reps per squat set instead of 8).

My feelings on Ab Ripper 200 are about half & half right now. I go a bit faster than the set pace & struggle a bit to keep proper form on most of the exercises. That shouldn’t be as much of a problem by the end of next week, though.

Over all, it’s definitely not as bad as I expected it to be. It’s a little harder but, at this point in time, is much needed. I’m really excited about what my results in the end will be Only 6 more weeks to go!

Recently I’ve tossed a few minor additions into my weight loss regimen, on top of P90 and calorie-counting…I’ve been walking at least a mile a day (weather permitting) and also am trying out Intermittent Fasting, instead of eating every 3 hours as I had been doing for the past who knows how long. I’ve only been doing these things for a few days now, so I can’t really for an absolute fact, but I do believe I’ve made a good choice. I was stuck at 136lbs for about 3 weeks straight, and then when I weighed myself this morning I managed to drop to 133lbs. I weigh once a week, first thing in the morning, completely nakie, on the same scale, so it’s a pretty accurate reading. Regardless of the cause, I’m pretty thrilled with the fact. This is the lowest I’ve ever weighed (except for when I was on my way up to 165, hah). But seriously, I think I’ve finally found what works best for me, and it’s a really great feeling.

Almost every day that I spent eating every 3 hours from the time I woke up until the time I went to bed, I was hungry the entire time. Honestly, I have no idea how people can feel satisfied while doing that on a calorie-restricted diet x_x I understand the whole protein & fiber makes you feel full longer concept, but it never seemed to work for me. Most days, my breakfast consists of 1 large egg, 1/4 cup Egg Beaters, 1 tbsp. spinach, 1 tbsp. bacon bits, 1 FF slice of cheese & 2 low-cal slices of bread with low-cal butter…all together, that’s at least 20g of protein and about 5-6g of fiber, but I’ll still feel hungry an hour later after eating it.

I came across a thread on IF on the 3FC forums this past weekend & by what everyone else following it said, it sounded perfect for me…and from what I can tell so far, it certainly is. I’m now eating from 11am until 7pm, and hardly feel very hungry at all anymore It’s really a lovely thing, as my eating habits have always been my biggest downfall.

Anyhow, I’m very happy with all the progress I’ve made over the past three months, and especially with how it seems things are going to continue to go so well. I’m finally getting to where I want to be, and I’m definitely going to stay there once I make it!

So, today was Day 30 of Power 90 for me, woohoo! That’s a pretty big deal as I’ve always had a hard time sticking to anything for very long. Guess maybe it helps that I love Tony Horton, hah. But anyhow, so far so good. I’m able to keep up with the Cardio 1-2 video totally now, and will be able to do the maximum reps of each exercise on Sculpt 1-2 by the end of next week But I’m not really looking forward to 3-4 yet. Two more weeks seems like such a short period of time…I’m tempted to stay on 1-2 a little longer, but I wont as think it’s time to kick things up a notch since I’m only 10lbs from my goal weight now, and I’m really planning on hitting it before my birthday (Sept. 29).

I’ve lost 4lbs and a few inches here & there since Day 1…though I apparently gained 1 inch on my thighs, which I don’t know whether should be blamed on poor measuring by me, or muscle gain from all the squats & lunges. I still can’t really see the difference myself yet, but it’s obvious in how my clothes fit. I’ve also had two neighbors comment on my weight loss, so I’m reasonably convinced. Speaking of how clothes fit, I’ve had a little NSV this month, too. A size 7 pair of jeans that I was previously unable to even come close to buttoning now fit near perfectly! And a pair of size 11 shorts that I bought a while back were falling off of me when I wore then for the first time on Tuesday.

This mission may be full of sweating, sore muscles, and ever-reducing bra sizes. Your mind, body, and soul will all be pushed to the limits. You will lose weight but will gain confidence and better self-esteem in it’s place, and hopefully find Yourself somewhere along the process. Remember- No matter how bad things seem now, never give up, never surrender! It will more than well worth it in the end.